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Oh come on, Willie Roaf? Anthony Munoz? Heck even Walter Jones and Orlando Pace were pretty close to Ogden. He was a dominant LT, but hardly the best in a generation.

JO is routinely compared to Munoz and will most likely get in the HoF.

I'd say that puts JO on firm footing as generational greatness.

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Re: If there was one player you could bring back from the past....

Originally Posted by Ravens75

There's no LT in the league today that are as good as JO and its not even close. At nearly 6' 10" and 350lbs he was the strongest player on the field and arguably the most athletic. In his prime the only player I ever remember giving him problems was the 6'6" Jason Taylor who was freakishly athletic as JO.

Players like JO come along once in a generation.

As for the players like CMac, Pete and a few others, I wonder how their style today would translate. CMac's mauling style was fine in the early aughts but now I think he would struggle with PI's and illegal contact. Boulware would've been a great all around player but I don't know if he would've been as dominant as JO.

Dwight Freeney gave JO fits, I think JO went like almost 3 years without giving up a sack, but Freeney used to beat him with spins and speed when JO had toe issues. The best rivalry was between Tony Boselli and McCrary. Epic battes. Before injury Boselli was considered the along with JO as one of the best. Boselli said McCrary was the best Dlineman he ever faced by a mile.

Munoz and JO were only like 5 years apart. What is a generation to you? Its got to be at least 20 years.

That's an awfully persnickety perspective, IMO.

And they were drafted 16 years apart, not 5.

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Re: If there was one player you could bring back from the past....

Originally Posted by HoustonRaven

That's an awfully persnickety perspective, IMO.

And they were drafted 16 years apart, not 5.

Look, Ogden was a tremedous LT. But I don't think anyone can claim he separated himself as much from other greats as Lewis did. Just look at the team identity. I know it wasn't anywhere close to Ogden's fault, but the offense was horrible for most of his time, where Lewis defense was always near the top. And like his dancing and yakking or not, Lewis was far and away the emotional leader of the team.

Re: If there was one player you could bring back from the past....

Originally Posted by Kevlar

Look, Ogden was a tremedous LT. But I don't think anyone can claim he separated himself as much from other greats as Lewis did. Just look at the team identity. I know it wasn't anywhere close to Ogden's fault, but the offense was horrible for most of his time, where Lewis defense was always near the top. And like his dancing and yakking or not, Lewis was far and away the emotional leader of the team.

Silly comment. Ray was surrounded by so much more talent that JO ever was (apart from running backs like Jamal and Holmes). Ray is the best ILB to ever play the game IMO, but you cant just say that because the offense was never great like the defense was, that JO isn't a great. Left Tackles can only protect the QB and block for the RB at the end of the day, they can't help an offense the way the Mike LB can help a defense Look at last years SB champs, they had one of the worst starting LT's in the league (David Dielh) yet Eli was running an elite offense.

Re: If there was one player you could bring back from the past....

Originally Posted by Boulderraven

Dwight Freeney gave JO fits, I think JO went like almost 3 years without giving up a sack, but Freeney used to beat him with spins and speed when JO had toe issues. The best rivalry was between Tony Boselli and McCrary. Epic battes. Before injury Boselli was considered the along with JO as one of the best. Boselli said McCrary was the best Dlineman he ever faced by a mile.

My emphasis. A healthy JO stymied everybody. He shut down The Freak when no one else in the league was doing it.